About

Hi,I’m Jim.

I’m a long-time cyclist who’s always dreamed of a cross-country trip. I want to know the length and the breadth of this great land. I want to experience it from coast to coast, sea to shining sea, at a pace that lets you appreciate the size and depth of the country, and gives you the chance to meet more of the wonderful people who live here.

Have you seen any of the blogs on www.crazyguyonabike.com? Read a couple and I dare you not to at get infected with the idea.

I’m passionate about the environment – a fact that has been the big driver for me professionally. I’ve committed my career to making buildings more energy efficient, and finding ways to make my work, and the work of our peers, more rewarding. I count those rewards as anything that you enjoy, brings together a community, makes the environment healthier, and earns a good living too. I have always wanted my cake and eat it too in terms of career choices. Can environmentalists grow profitable pro-environment businesses? How else are you going to get people on board? Warren Buffet gets it (his utility invests heavily in energy efficiency because it’s cheap not because he’s a tree hugger). This is the path forward for me and thanks to Amory Lovins for seeing it first and pointing it out to so many in my field.

So I’m combining two of my biggest passions in this ride – cycling and a concern for the environment – to raise awareness about climate change.

Oh gawd not another rant on climate change…

But I’ve already gotten too preachy, I fear. Which is never going to win over anybody, right? That’s why I wanted to focus my ride on the druther-bike angle. That is, as long as you try to convince people to help the environment by doing something they ought to do, you’re going to turn a lot of people off. So instead, lets promote the idea that biking is just a way better way to get around – it’s a quality of life thing. It makes your happier, healthier and more connected to the people around you. Seriously, how often to you ever meet someone while driving your car? You know how often I meet someone on my bike commute? Almost every day.

Gear-heads, Tune In Here

I’m an engineer by training so part of the fun is figuring out the best setup to get you coast to coast in comfort and safety. I’m going with a lot of tried and trues here as it’s my first trip anywhere near this long: